Humanity failed when we made devices you don't control via vague threats and drop kicking

I mean it’s barely an inconvenience for since I probably got used to it, but man it kinda sucks that everything is going from simple analog to complex digital. Like cool that I got a more accurate weight, but do I also have to download an app to actually make it work?

Lol yeah my wife was given a special digital scale for our kitchen that requires an app to update functions for measurements... It's been annoying AF.

Also, those “cool/trendy” restaurants where there’s no physical menu—you have to scan the QR code on your table to see the menu and to order.

Especially when they're underground/ remote and you have no signal, so you have to faff around asking for the WiFi code

Friend bought a new ‘connected’ oven. A few weeks later, she got a text while shopping. It said “I need to be cleaned” - her oven. She disconnected it. I don’t need a refrigerator that spies on me, thanks.

Yes yes yes. Why does a damn fridge need an app or a light bulb or a microwave. Why make things harder. So many people would be lost if Tech goes down.

I mean, the light bulb in the fridge helps you see stuff. So it's pretty useful.

Oh. You meant why does a lightbulb need an app. My home is lit by Hue bulbs. Being able to dim them en masse is very useful, even if I don't use the color functions often. Low-light is great for watching stuff while being able to see my dinner (don't judge). Can't do that without an app.

...or a bunch of switches. Or running around the room manually turning things off/down. It's convenient and helpful.

Unfortunately even car manufacturers are forcing people to use apps to control their cars! I don’t understand why they can’t make these apps optional! Some of us only have so much room in our phones and can’t load every app that society is forcing on us!

I got a haircut like two weeks ago and they no longer had a clipboard you signed before you waited, it is now an app, and I have never wanted capitalism to burn to the ground more than that exact moment

"You don't need a remote, just install the app and pai-"

The fact that it's borderline impossible to slowly adjust some appliances without a remote already bothers me.

I love my air conditioner but it leaves precision adjustments to the app despite coming with a fucking remote

Please Soulless Venture Capitalists, Finance Me to start a company that makes Dumb Technology. No circuit boards. No screens. It has knobs and buttons and is so simple it will never fail and a monkey could fix it.

I cannot believe that captialism genuinely turned me into a Luddite. I hate smart tvs, smart toasters, smart printers, smart dryers. I hate it alllll.

Yeah, "smart" and wifi features are the first sign the whole thing is a shitshow. It's AWFUL.

Also because the security on all these “smart devices” is so ass, they’re often targeted by hackers to add to botnets and shit

I'm pretty sure my oven is smart and there's an app for it, but I prefer to turn it on and off manually, when I'm home. I've even un ai-ed my devices as much as possible. I still use paper lists written with a bic pen!!!

I bought a sound bar for my tv. To get it to work on my specific television required it to access my WiFi… to get it to do that required an app I had to download to my phone to send it instructions. It had its own WiFi connection, but still needed a phone app to work. Infuriating.

And create a login to our website to enable the AI features.

At least the haircut place I use has a website that you make your appointment on before arriving, then tells you when to come in.

You mean you don’t want text messages at 7AM and daily emails?

I don’t disagree in the slightest, but why do you have to sign in to get a haircut? Are they rationed where you live?

it's walk-in, the list keeps who is waiting in order, you can also request someone specific

Ah, that makes sense. I’ve just never seen it- my local walk in just has a bench that you shuffle along in turn. 😬

it's in a shopping center so you can sign in and then go do shopping if it's really busy and come back

Then the app gets upgraded,and your phone is to old…

Meanwhile, me who buys the cheap stuff so often I forget fancy app-controlled things even exist

I'm starting to wonder if we've been gaslit into thinking only "smart" tech exists these days. Had my microwave replaced twice this year, and none of the microwaves we ended up with have any apps or connectivity! My thermostat and toothbrush are also basic ones

I got an electric kettle as a gift and it has some preset temps but if I need a more specific one I gotta adjust it through an app and it's annoying as hell

My kettle has a touch sensitive scrollbar on it which is one of the most brilliant things ever. No app, just a fun gimmick that hasn't forgotten its fundamental purpose. But then I guess it can't track my usage profile and offer suggestions and products on how to further spend to improve my life 🤨

i had to go to urgent care and they had a tablet to check in. except the tablet kept freezing at one screen so i had to call a desk not connected to the clinic for them to remotely sign me in. i would have forfeited my appointment slot if i didnt think to do that

But if you CAN control it with an app, they will make sure to sell it to you…even if it still doesn’t make sense.

I generally agree. Especially when the app has to also communicate through an external server and its the only way to properly control it. While connected devices can help with convenience, making devices and events (i.e. concerts) dependent on them is pretty lame design.

This sorta happened with cars when 3G ended. In order to remotely lock, or start it, it needed to use the 3G network via the app. Once that ended, that ability became bricked. Mercedes MBrace had this happen with cars before MY2017.

“Control,” as in off & on?

Even worse if you have to pay a monthly subscription for it to be able to function

If a physical device works normally, but offer the option to be remote controlled then fine. However the connectivity cannot be a condition for the functioning of the device. All connected devices should have a customer accessible API. At EOL the device's fw and app should become open source.

But how can they tailor the experience to you and offer additional ideas and products to make your life more efficient and beautiful without an app?

Yes! I mean talk about adding an unnecessary layer of effort! Totally inefficient

yeah ! and I should be able to do everything on the TV with the TVs buttons that the remote can do to the TV as well !

We had to buy a new TV this year to replace our 40in TV that finally died after 11yrs, the new TV has no physical buttons to turn it on/off, adjust volume, or any other manual settings. I was floored, everything has to be done via this flimsy Remote control Or download an app to our phone!?!

My advise is to un-buy that TV as fast as possible. Thats not a television, thats an advertisement panel attached to a tiny internal computer you barely own. NO television needs to know my wifi password EVER

Unfortunately most retailers in my area do not seem to have televisions, that are still affordable, that aren't some sort of "smart" b.s. tech.

I generally agree, but in specific domains, it may be helpful for someone with special requirements or for simple safety to put distance between the person and the active appliance/device. E.g.: Arc Flash protection

I still can't get over the very brief "smart mug" phase that happened a couple years ago where the mug would heat its contents but had literally no controls outside of the app a fucking MUG this is shit we used to solve with A DIAL

My only disagreement with that would be over my hearing aids.

Feeling this more & more everyday! Especially when the power went out for a few hours.

You’re describing my new Bosch dishwasher.

I generally agree with this, but it's easy to see why companies go the app route. Adding physical controls and a display adds complexity and cost to the design and adds mechanical points of failure. Bluetooth modules, on the other hand, are cheap and won't break down like a mechanical button will.

Bluetooth & wifi transmitters always fail. Our alleged "smart" washing machine has had to have service 3 times in 5yrs because of some Bluetooth module that overheated or failed due to electric outage. I will never purposely buy another "smart" appliance again.

it's the same sort of stupid add-on as GoogleSoft and Metadobe putting AI into literally every product they push lately my kids' mum has like four different appliances that have apps/IoT, but only because they had all the actual features she wants. Disabled, also blocked on the router.

she *does* use the app for her Roomba clone, but it's totally worthwhile. And connects within the LAN afaik, no outside connection needed

What I miss even more? Buttons and knobs. Even if the buttons and knobs break, I can still manipulate the thing with a plier or screwdriver. Fuck your touchscreen that if it freezes or breaks I’m SOL.

i work im a store that sells appliances and i cannot tell you how bad it kills me to see people buying smartfridges and smartwashers for more than i make in a month knowing that One Kid with Peanut Butter Hands could destroy it in an instant

If we’re living in a simulation then everything’s an app.

If I have to use an app to get a cheaper sandwich, I will just go somewhere else. Fuxk kiosks too, she looks at me like I'm 100 because I want to order with a human. Get off my lawn!!

I don’t mind the kiosks. My interactions with fast food workers are rarely fulfilling. We are both there stressed and wishing we were somewhere else. I hate the need to use an app to pay a reasonable price thing though.

I agree, often I'm forced to use an app for a restaurant so I can save a few dollars or earn points which are used to save money. All I want is to buy food geez.

Why does my dishwasher and washing machine have Bluetooth? I have to be there to load and unload. An app can't do that!

Bought a dishwasher recently and when researching, there were so many models we rejected because we needed an app and/or to connect them to the internet. I just want the damn thing to wash my dishes for fuck's sake.

Really wish people would stop buying me Govee lights for this exact reason 😭

that tech enthusiasts vs tech workers tweet still reigns supreme

Probably doesn’t apply to nuclear power plants.

???? Variable Pacemaker installed in my Father’s chest. Please explain HOW you expect it to be adjusted MANUALLY. 🤭🤣🤣🤣🤗🫶

Except light bulbs. I love my wiz lights and literally can't imagine any other way to have the lighting options I get with the app

We have definitely gone off the deep end with appliances connected to wifi apps or any apps.

Here's a Bluetooth toothbrush you need to log in with or you can't brush your teeth youtu.be/X2IOEdpe_pk?...

AAAAHHH

Ill get the bonfire started, can I recruit someone to hand out the pitchforks?

Well not really. The brush works with or without the app. The app is supposed to guide you and monitor your habit. You can absolutely use the brush without it - which is how it should be. In this example the guiding function of the app is not necessarily bad considering how most don't do it right.

... I know buddy I was being funny. Now what it does do is take one of the cheapest tools you have in your house and make it decidedly not cheap and that's a real and borderline crazy problem.

Also, to correct your own appearance

why is the assumption that everyone has smart phones. there is still a very sizeable amount of adults that do not own a smart phone

well I wouldn't say 'sizable', smartphone adoption amongst adults is like 98%

2% is still a lot of people! and a lot of ppl are opting to use dumb phones nowadays. i think thats only gonna increase over time

I feel this way about board games. If it REQUIRES an app to play I put it back on the shelf. Im getting a board game to get OFF my phone.

Actually, insulin pumps that can “talk” to a phone and keep blood sugars in line and give life saving alerts are everything!

Looking at you, EV charger at work.

Well, I just connected my Thermador wall oven to the associated app and it downloaded new cooking functions that, several years ago, would have required buying a new appliance. So, talk to me again about how it wasn’t built correctly.

Paging Xiaomi...

First world problem. Best shout at some clouds.

Do me a favor and change the TV channel.